Cheat meals and low fat alternatives

27/12/2025

Irish potato bread is so easy to make. Half mash and half flour with seasoning. Fried on a hot pan/skillet. I fry mine in a drizzle olive oil and Irish butter. Fry until golden each side and hot in the middle. Serve with eggs, bacon, sausages and black pudding if you like it. Hearty, filling breakfast. Not exactly a cheat meal, but it's only Christmas once a year. Enjoy it.

27/12/2025

Home made potato bread made from leftover Christmas dinner champ. Perfect family Boxing Day breakfast/brunch with fried smokey bacon and eggs.

14/12/2025

Starting a new plan in 2026 to lose 12 kgs between January 2026 and March 2026.

I have started a new page to follow my progress. I will link to the cheat meals page, to show the food I eat on during the first 3 months of 2026. Below is the link if interested in following me:

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61584866199775

Plan is to eat a diet high in protein and veggies and to try to cut out higher glycemic carbohydrates for the three months to see if that takes me out of the pre-diabetic stage I am currently in. I will also again, use intermittent fasting but in a different manner than previously, which I didn't find suited my lifestyle and prefrences.

Some essential foods I will be getting in for January - March:

Eggs
Skinless chicken
Turkey
Salmon - fresh and tinned
Tinned Tuna
Lean mince 5 per cent fat
Lean cuts of steak
Lugumes tinned - kidney beans, mixed beans, chickpeas etc
Lentils - mix into soups, stews and casseroles
Unsalted nuts/pistacios
Milk Semi skimmed
Cheese - Philadelphia light/laughing cow light triangles/baby bell light
Wholemeal grains - bread, wraps, baps, pasta (in small amounts)
Tinned tomatoes/puree to make sauce for lasagne and home made pizza
All vegetables/fruit - fresh and frozen - brochilli, sprouts, cabbage, mushrooms, peppers and fruits citrus, watermelon etc
Use turnips and carrot and parsnip as potato substitute
Replace pasta with egg plant/zuchini for lasagne
Zero fat cottage cheese and
Zero fat greek yogurt - homemade quiche
Tinned sardines
Tinned macheral
Humus/Falafel/smashed avocado to replace butter/high fat sauces
Oils - olive, avocado, Carola, sunflower, Rapseed
Seeds - chia and flax seed, seseme etc
Seasonings - garlic, onion, paprika, smoked spices, ginger, etc
Soy sauce, spicy sauces, sweet & sour sauce, etc to replace salt
Fresh salads - lettuce, tomato, spinach
Oats - porridge
Quinoa to replace rice
Cauliflower to replace rice/mash
Honey to replace sugar - limit

An experiment to bust the myth that you can't lose weight after 60. No crazy diets, no crazy work out regimes and no fat busting jabs and pills. Just determination, will power and sticking at it. NB: I AM NOT A PROFESSIONAL NUTRITIONIST OR HEALTH PRO

21/11/2025

Sometimes only the real thing will do. Here are some items from McDonald's under 500 calories.

- Breakfast Items
- Egg McMuffin: 300 calories
- Sausage Burrito: 290 calories
- Fruit 'N' Yogurt Parfait: 150 calories
- Hotcakes (no Syrup & Butter): 350 calories
- Hash Brown: 150 calories

- Sandwiches
- Jr. Hamburger: 240 calories
- Hamburger: 250 calories
- Grilled Chicken Go Wrap: 270 calories
- Grilled Chicken Sandwich: 460 calories

- Salads
- Asian Salad without Chicken: 140 calories
- Caesar Side Salad, no croutons, with light ranch: 230 calories

- Snacks
- Value Fries: 230 calories
- Side Salad: 20 calories

- Combos
- Jr. Cheeseburger and Jr. Chocolate Frosty: 480 calories
- Hamburger and Small Fries: 480 calories
- 4pc Chicken Nuggets, BBQ Dipping Sauce, and Value Fries: 460 calories

Some other options include ²:
- Healthy Breakfast Items
- Various sandwiches, burritos, and full meals under 500 calories

Keep in mind that portion sizes and customizations can affect calorie counts. For the most accurate information, consider checking McDonald's official website or consulting with a nutritionist.

14/11/2025

Cheat meal trifle. Low calorie custard; ten calorie jelly; low fat squirty cream. Great sweet tooth fix and a lower calorie dessert. Add some fresh berries to make it even better. Another great dessert could be a lower fat Eaton mess with a small merengue, fresh strawberries and low fat squirty cream. So many alternatives. 💕

12/11/2025

Never fails to deliver. Quiche made with tortilla wrap base. This one included mixed peppers, peas, onions, zero fat greek yogurt, Philadelphia lightest cream cheese and four medium eggs. Seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic powder, chilli flakes and paprika. Topped with fresh spinach. Served with drizzle each of sweet chilli and saraccha mayo. I had a portion with baked beans and cheat daupinpise cubed potatoes.

04/11/2025

Mash and peppered chicken with cabbage. The cheats being the mash consisted of cauliflower, carrots and broccoli. Using skinless chicken seasoned to taste, cube it and mix it in with the peppered sauce. Sauce was an instant sauce made by adding water and semi skimmed milk. The cooked cabbage was fried with chopped turkey rashers. A really satisfying and filling meal which consisted primarily of veggies and a medium skinless chicken breast.

04/11/2025

Mash and peppered chicken with cabbage. The cheats being the mash consisted of cauliflower, carrots and broccoli. Using skinless chicken seasoned to taste, cube it and mix it in with the peppered sauce. Sauce was an instant sauce made by adding water and semi skimmed milk. The cooked cabbage was fried with chopped turkey rashers. A really satisfying and filling meal which consisted primarily of veggies and a medium skinless chicken breast.

19/10/2025

Half home made quiche = 167 calories. Two mini corn on cobs = 66 calories. Total 233 calories.